Poker Stories

A colorful coffee-table size book, this is a tribute to the World Series of Poker with photos of players who played key hands that made or lost millions. Features highlights, low lights, quotes, and opinions on skill versus luck. 157 pgs, hardcover, 2006

Learn what it takes to be a great poker player by climbing inside the mind of pokers most famous champion. Fascinating anecdotes and adventures from Doyles early career playing poker in roadhouses are interspersed with lessons from the champion who has made more money at poker than anyone else in history. Learn what makes a great player tick, how he approaches the game, and receive candid, powerful advice from the legend himself. Table of Contents: PART I: POKER FOR THE WRONG REASONS...

Through fascinating and intimate profiles, the authors reveal the ground-breaking strategies and outrageous lifestyles of the games most influential players, including Puggy Pearson, Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth, and Chris Ferguson. The authors take you through the evolution of modern poker from shady back rooms to the world of high-tech mainstream entertainment, including tales about legends and street-smart hustlers who stormed the poker rooms of Las Vegas in the 1960s. 281 pgs, paperback, 2006

A modern poker classic (out of print for a while) that tells the tale of a year in the life of biographer Holden, who took off to experience the life of a professional poker player. He recounts his days and nights in poker rooms in Las Vegas, Malta, Morocco, and at sea. Holden rubbed elbows with the greats of the game, sharpened his skills and aimed for the ultimate in pokerdom, the World Series of Poker championship. 384 pgs, paperback, 2002

From the moment he wins $10,000 in a tourney pitting journalists against three world champs, Holden hits a hot streak, spiriting readers to an instructional camp in Vienna and the World Cup of Poker in Spain before returning to Las Vegas to compete with 8,772 other hopefuls in a WSOP "crapshoot." With Congress restricting Americans' ability to play poker for money online, the semipro invasion might have peaked, but Holden still has a gift for finding the romance in holdem. 291 pgs, hardcover,...

From the moment he wins $10,000 in a tourney pitting journalists against three world champs, Holden hits a hot streak, spiriting readers to an instructional camp in Vienna and the World Cup of Poker in Spain before returning to Las Vegas to compete with 8,772 other hopefuls in a WSOP "crapshoot." With Congress restricting Americans' ability to play poker for money online, the semipro invasion might have peaked, but Holden still has a gift for finding the romance in holdem. 291 pgs, paperback,...

This 1983 classic is now back in print. An acclaimed author and poker player, A. Alvarez combined his two talents to pen this work, which gives a compelling inside look at the world of Las Vegas, professional poker, and the extremes that go along with each. Alvarez captures the psyches of the people who challenge each other in the world's biggest poker tournament, the annual World Series of Poker. 176 pgs, paperback, reprinted 2002

Written by a writer who immersed himself into the poker atmosphere, starting in cyberspace and ending up at the World Series of Poker. Includes among the chapters the following: Chips in the Night -- In which the author’s various online alter egos are introduced, and one of them is victimized.

Following up on his first book, the Pigeon discusses how he moved from novice to poker pro. Discusses hiding your play, lulling smart players into making dumb errors, detecting cheaters, managing your winnings, and avoiding common pitfalls. 230 pgs, paperback, 2008

The real name of the author is not Cash McAdams...for obvious reasons. The collection of stories include swindlers, card sharps, cheats and suckers, and they are all true. These are the stories that have taken place within the secret world of hustlers and scammers, and some of those people are still alive. You will enjoy these adventures as they are written as if you are actually at the table with the sharps. Enjoy the irony, the morality and the surprises that happen along with the jackpots...

In this follow-up to Diary of a Mad Poker Player, Sparks sees one thing above all: his game needs help. He approaches one of the legends of poker, Tom McEvoy, who signs on as his personal coach and sets out again into the booming world of poker armed with a lot more firepower. He sails down to Mexico, on board the Party Poker Million Cruise. He gets up close and personal with famous poker faces, top stars and big money players, old pros and young guns. He discusses the future of poker with the...

Listed as An All-American Tale, this book chronicles the author’s journey to play in poker’s big leagues: The World Series of Poker. Walsh begins by playing online poker for pennies, continues his expedition with stops at church basements, a mansion, the back room of a bar, an Indian casino and finally, the hallowed poker rooms of Las Vegas. On the road to triumph (or ruin), he lives out a dream he shares with millions of other players and fans - all the while trying to juggle his...

Sit side-by-side with Doyle as he replays the excitement and life-changing moments of the most thrilling and crucial hands in the history of pokerfrom his early games as a rounder in the rough-and-tumble Wild West years, where a man was as likely to get shot as he was to get a straight flush. to the nail-biting excitement of his two world championship titles. Doyle brings to life the high stakes tension of sidestepping police, hijackers and murderers, competing for hands worth more than $1...

Poker is a game of many different concepts and ideas, and the relative importance of these ideas has changed over the years as different forms of poker gain and lose popularity. But the underlying theory of how to approach poker, and in particular no-limit hold em, still remains the same. Since 2005, David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth have each been writing four essays a year, covering a variety of topics. Some of these essays are easy reading, while some of them address the more challenging...

There’s more to poker than life, yet life, for what that’s worth, can be enriched by the philosophical lessons of poker, and--more to the point--you’ll pick up more pots if you stretch your mind to encompass the vital lessons of philosophy. For the thoughtful poker player seeking that elusive extra depth, this book has twenty card-playing members of the philosophy profession tackling the riskier questions that arise within the infinite but still joyfully expanding universe of...

If you know Phil Hellmuth then you either love him or hate him! His rants, tirades, and lines like “I can dodge bullets baby” and “If it weren't for luck, I'd win them all” are epic and have earned him the nickname the “Poker Brat.” However, whether you love him or hate him, he is undoubtedly the greatest poker player of our time. Phil is a global poker icon who holds every record at the World Series of Poker, including an extraordinary 14 world championships. In Poker Brat Phil paints a...

Journalist and poker fanatic Bellin takes readers on a journey into the shut-up-and-deal world of professional poker. From basement games to the World Series of poker, you’ll look over his shoulder as he learns to count cards, read legendary player’s body language, hang in there when the chips are down, and take his beatings like a man. Even if you don’t know the difference between a flop and a river card, Bellin keeps you in the game with his portrait of the colorful...

Originally titled According to Doyle and first published in 1984, this book received great response and sold out. Now its back in print. This is a collection of Brunsons most memorable poker tables. He shares his insights, lessons, and point of view profiling the characters he met while plying his trade as a professional poker player. 204 pgs, paperback, 2003

On assignment for a major magazine, McManus traveled to Las Vegas, where he made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker, winning 5th place against Hall of Famer T.J. Cloutier (whose book he credits for his success) and 2000 world Chris Ferguson. He weaves together his World Series adventure, the murder trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, accused in the murder of Ted Binion, the world of high-stakes poker and the underbelly of the Las Vegas gambling scene in this NY Times best...

On assignment for a major magazine, McManus traveled to Las Vegas, where he made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker, winning 5th place against Hall of Famer T.J. Cloutier (whose book he credits for his success) and 2000 world Chris Ferguson. He weaves together his World Series adventure, the murder trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, accused in the murder of Ted Binion, the world of high-stakes poker and the underbelly of the Las Vegas gambling scene in this NY Times best...

Poker is much more than just a popular game. It is a world unto itself, populated with a multitude of colorful characters: professionals and amateurs, hustlers and dreamers. This royal flush of a collection brings together short stories, essays, poems, and excerpts from novels by a host of renowned writers -- from the Wild West to present day -- who have mined their personal experience of the game. Entertaining and enlightening, you'll want to ante up for Read 'Em and Weep. With pieces...

Beginning with a female pool shark named Booboo, this anthology goes through a litany of stories that not only deal with games of chance, but more intensely with the people who play, why they take part, and what they gain besides the gratification of winning, or the discontent of losing. Included are tales of humor, anxiety, love, war, and magic. When asked to name his favorite, the author replied, "That's impossible. One day I would say the western, the next it could be the baseball story,...

Spanier’s writing combines the keen delight of an enthusiast with the scrutiny of the journalist. From his introduction to gambling as a school boy at a prestigious boarding school in England to a detailed examination of gambling in cyberspace, he takes the reader on a tour of the colorful and exciting world of poker. He talks about his Tuesday night poker club, life on a poker cruise, gives practical advice on tournament play and profiles leading players. He gives his special insight...

Craig captures the excitement of the big game, featuring the real-life duel between the Professor (Howard Lederer), the Banker (millionaire Texan Andy Beal), and the Suicide King (the king of hearts, which holds a broad sword) in his book about poker and people, what makes players tick, what draws them to the cutting edge of the game, who the best are, how and why they play. Packed with history and biographical notes on some of the biggest names in the poker business, including their highs and...